


We Made It

by astrivikia



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: During Canon, Episode: s03e21 Sozin's Comet Part 4 Avatar Aang, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Nightmares, No beta we die like mne, set post comet but pre-coronation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:07:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27182224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astrivikia/pseuds/astrivikia
Summary: After the comet, there's still lingering fears and a desire for comfort.
Relationships: Aang & Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 66





	We Made It

Darkness hangs over the room, only moonlight filtering in from the window, and a small sliver of orange torchlight from the hall.

All of them are sharing one room, not willing to forfeit that ready reassurance that they all survived. The floor is a mess of pillows and blankets, and while there is a bed in here none of them have deigned to use it.

Zuko sighs softly as he looks over his friends. Aang burrows a bit against him in his sleep, fingers curling in the blanket. His forehead is furrowed, scrunching the tip of his arrow tattoo.

Concern tugs at him, and he cautiously rests a hand on Aang's shoulder, rubbing his thumb reassuringly against it. It doesn't seem to break through whatever is happening behind closed eyelids, a small little noise catching in the monk's throat. 

His body coils, lips pressing together, before his eyes fly open and he jerks, a gasp escaping him. The others don't stir, and Aang's gray eyes flit around in a panicky way as he slowly takes in where he is. He slumps back into the blankets, grey eyes finally settling on Zuko's gold ones.

They stare at each other for a moment in silence, before Aang rests his forehead against Zuko's shoulder. 

"Nightmare?" Zuko's not sure why he asks when the answer is so obvious, but it feels like the right thing to do. His voice is a low whisper, so as not to disturb the others.

Aang nods, looking a bit lost before he says, barely audible. "Your dad is scary." His breath hitches a little, like he's remembering back to the events of the comet. 

Zuko grimaces, arm shifting to draw the airbender more securely against him. He can feel Aang trembling now, through the contact. 

"I was- I thought..." Aang's voice is a tenuous, fragile thing, barely above a whisper. Aang's arms wrap around Zuko, clinging as he hides his face against his chest.

His still healing injury twinges a bit in protest but Zuko doesn't try to pull away. 

"I-" the word is muffled in Zuko's shirt, and Aang's voice breaks, leaving the sentence to trail off before it can really begin anyway.

"You're okay," Zuko breathes, a reassurance to both of them.

Zuko doesn't know exactly what happened in Aang's fight with his father, but he doesn't need to in order to guess how terrifying it probably was. Aang had come back looking far worse for wear even if he was largely uninjured.

"You don't have to talk about it…"

Wide gray eyes look up at Zuko, and it strikes him again just how young the Avatar is. 

"Not that you can't, " he ammends awkwardly, "Just… If it's too much."

For a moment it looks like Aang might speak. And then tears spill over and track down his cheek. His lip trembles, a sob escaping the kid.

Aang hides his face against him, muffling the sound. Zuko lets his hand rise to cradle the back of his head, fingers tracing along the arrow in an attempt to soothe him.

"I'm sorry." His voice feels rougher than usual. The whole situation was so incredibly unfair.

Broken little noises claw their way out of the small monk, hands balling in Zuko's top as he falls apart, all the fear and sorrow coming to the surface.

Tears burn at his own eyes, and he squeezes them shut, resting his cheek against the top of Aang's head. They stay like that for a while, Aang slowly settling down and slumping into him.

"I was scared too," Zuko admits into the silence. "I wasn't sure you'd make it back…"

Back on Ember Island, the fear that had shone so plainly in the airbender's face. It had been too much to ask of him, but there'd been no other choice.

And then Aang had disappeared, and there was a part of him that was afraid he would never see him again. 

"You saved me." Aang's fingers toy with his shirt, and there's a long pause as he works to formulate a proper sentence. Instead, the word "Lightning," tumbles out as way of explanation, fingers tracing the branching pattern against his back.

It's enough; Zuko understands. A flicker of memory rises unbidden to the forefront of his mind, Aang falling limply in the catacombs after Azula electrocuted him. He pushes the memory, and the twisting feeling of guilt, away.

Aang's okay, he prepared him for that, and he's here. He made it.


End file.
